A Whole MONTH!!

He's a month old today! I can't believe he's a month already. I think time will continue to fly by as it always has when it comes to our babies...

Ramon is sleeping an average of 5 hours after he eats at night and I think we have his days and nights all figured out. He doesn't like to take baths yet but you can tell he feels better after he has a bath. He bops his head around and is starting to get more control of that. He stays awake a few hours each day now. His brother and sisters have adapted to a new baby very well. His sisters even act like little mommies and help me take care of him and Juanito will even go get Ramon's binky and try to give it to him when he's crying. He eats about 6 ounces at each feeding now. He LOVES to sleep on his tummy! He likes to be held but doesn't cry when you put him down.

He is a really good baby...I think he's a keeper! I love him!

I love feet!!

I think he looks like his daddy in this one.

He wasn't happy that I was taking pictures and he was hungry!

I think he looks more like me in this one.

This one wasn't taken today but I included it to show that he has BLUE eyes! Hopefully they stay that way...

Party, party, party!

On April 16th, my nephew turned 12 years old. This is my nephew that I haven't seen in about 3 years or so due to my sister and I having a HUGE falling out. When my mom and dad told me that they were planning to have a birthday party for him and asked me if I would go, I was a little hesitant. I mean, I haven't talked to my sister in a LONG time and we don't have the greatest relationship right now. But, I had to think of the kids. They need their family and if it's one thing I have learned since becoming a Melo years ago, it's just that. So, I agreed to go and told my mom I would help her out with it.

It turned out to be a surprise party for him. My sister told him she was gonna take him to the movies for his birthday when she got out of work and my dad would pick them up. Well, when he picked them up, he told Adam he was hungry and that they should stop for pizza. We had already gotten there by then and he had some friends there and his cousins he hasn't seen in a very long time. He was excited!

Grandma made his cake and cupcakes. She did a great job on this one! (He loves Pokemon.)

I don't believe she used a template to draw Pikachu's face. AMAZING!!

The kids took off to play games with the tokens Grandpa got for them!

Juanito LOVES basketball and he went straight for this one. He was standing on the opening where the balls come out.

A little later, I found him inside the machine right next to the hoop!

Guess standing on the opening wasn't close enough! Cheese!

Just like old times...Brianna found her favorite perch...my niece Heidi.

After we all ate pizza and played video games, it was time for cake and gifts.

Adam was taking a picture of his cake.

Blowing out his candles...

He liked this one!

He thought he got pretzels but inside was a boat load of Pokemon stuff!

Grandma & Grandpa's gift was especially hard to open...

Still working on it!

Got it! YAY! A backpack! He was excited about this one too!!

Here are all the kids that were there! (Top left to right: Alicia, Brianna, Heidi, Zachary. Bottom left to right: Tallynna, Juanito, Adam, Jillian, Chris, and I forgot his name)

Then Adam turned in his tickets and got some cool stuff like 85 little ninja guys and these vampire teeth!

It was a great party!

I was even able to talk to my sister a little bit. I miss having her around but also just cannot get over some of the things that happened between us. I have forgiven but forgiveness isn't for her, but for me which is why I was able to be there and see them all. The girls couldn't have been happier to see her and their cousins and for that, I am glad we went.

I saw God today (part 5)

Atalie Belle Duckworth

4.8.2010 at 5:11PM

6 pounds 10 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long

I got a text message at 7 something yesterday morning that my sister-in-law was in labor. I started to text them to ask what was going on. I got updated regularly. She didn't have a room at that time and her contractions were pretty far apart so I wasn't in a huge hurry to get to the hospital...yet. I made sure to keep in touch with my brother in law for the day because I promised my sister in law that I would be there for her whether she wanted me in the room when Atalie was born or just at the hospital. Turns out I was allowed to be in the room when she graced us with her presence.

I got a text from Junior that Michelle's contractions were about 5 minutes apart. So I said to myself, "I gotta get over there!" It was about 11am or so. I called my babysitter to see if she could watch the boys for me and for the first time EVER, she couldn't watch them. Her husband was sick and with a new baby, she was considerate to tell me that. So, I called my parents to see if they could help me out. My dad said he could bring my mom over to watch the boys and be here for the girls to get home from school. PERFECT!! They got to my house around 1 or so and I took off.

I am a music person and when I got in the car, the first song I heard was "I'm already there" by Lonestar. Michelle had written a blog a few days earlier that had to do with this song. I thought it was appropriate and even made a tear come to my eyes. The very next song was "Unstoppable" by Rascal Flatts. This song talks about how love conquers all and helps you get past whatever things come your way. The last song that came on that I really paid attention to was "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood. This was has it's own special meaning with us as a family and I will leave that one at that. Youtube them if you wanna listen to them. I knew at that point that I would be able to make it to see my niece born or at least be there for Michelle.

I sent Junior a text to tell him I was on my way and asked if he needed anything. I stopped for a Monster for Junior and Tiffany and a Cherry Sprite for me from Sonic and I got there. We just hung out from there on. I didn't get a lot of pictures on my camera because I was taking more with Michelle's camera so she could have the memories...

Junior was rubbing Michelle's stomach when she was having contractions.

Here she is! Her first time meeting her mommy! Junior was taking a picture with my phone and I was taking a picture of that.

On the scale...

If you look close at her legs...she has loads of hair!

Here she is at home, a few days old, all cleaned up and hanging out with her favorite tias! (Yes Nichole, that's plural cause I was there too! LOL!)

So, there it is. One more down and 2 more to go. I have 2 more nieces due in the next 2 months. Hopefully, my sister in law in Phoenix will allow me to be there for her daughter's arrival...

I felt very honored to be able to be there for Atalie's entrance and happy that we have a great close family!

I saw God today (part 4)

Firsts

Easter...The Resurrection of Jesus Christ...not about any bunny or eggs or candy at all. I thought that since today is Easter I would write about some "firsts" that occurred today. Not sure why or how I connected the two but...

Today was Ramon's first Easter. He was dressed in his little outfit my brother bought for him before he was born. I have a picture of it but I want to show it to my brother before I post it anywhere else. He looked adorable but he got warm really quick in it so we stripped him down to the onesie. He was quite content with that.

Today Ramon also had his first "real" bath. He is 2 weeks and 2 days old and he lost his belly button end a few days ago. He was supposed to have his bath yesterday but I have been having trouble with my plumbing so I didn't want to do it with my sink all full so it waited til today.

We went to the park where my comadre arrived at 7am for a 2pm get together. Would you believe she got there that early just for us to have a place to barbeque?! We were having a great time and then all of a sudden I felt dizzy. I looked over at my dad and held onto the ramada post. I thought I was really dizzy and this is what the doctor was talking about with my blood pressure! I wiggled my chair to see if maybe the legs were bent funny and they weren't. Then everyone else started to say, "Do you feel that?" It seemed like the ground was just swaying back and forth! Nichole called her cousin in California to ask if they just had an earthquake and she said they did. We all jumped on Facebook with our phones...damn technology! So today was my first earthquake experience.

I have been celebrating Easter with both sides of my family for YEARS! It's nice to have in-laws that get along with my family and to know that my family likes spending time with my in-laws. My mother-in-law passed away 3 and a half months ago and this was our first Easter without her. We did survive Christmas though; that was SO much worse but it was still so fresh then and hadn't sunk in for most of us. We missed her but we know she was there too!

Tonight, Juanito went to bed for the first time without his elephant. He has had this blue elephant since he was a day old, he's 2 and a half now. He has never slept one night without it. It was in his bassinet when he was a little baby and as he grew, he kept it close to him. Well, tonight I couldn't find it and he didn't ask for it so I laid him down, put his blanket on him, kissed him, hugged him and walked out. Of course, I made sure to find it in case he asked for it. He did but it was an hour later. Notice I said he went to bed without it, not to sleep...

I didn't go to church today. This was the first time I have missed Easter Mass since I was baptized. I woke up with Ramon this morning at 7:30 and fed him...for 2 hours! He was just eating a little bit at a time so it took him SO LONG to eat. I could have gotten up and gotten ready while Juan took care of the peanut but I just didn't feel like getting up. In fact, I stayed in my bed until 11am watching my recordings of 90210. Choices, life is about the choices we make.

One more first. I typed this blog with one hand because I was feeding Ramon at the same time! Never typed a blog with one hand before.

HAPPY EASTER!!

I saw God today (part 3)

This is our fig tree. It was at our house when we bought it. Every winter, it sheds its huge leaves and blankets the ground. Then every spring it fills out with those very large leaves and grows beautiful figs. I don't like to eat figs so my mom will usually come and get them or the occasional passer by will ask if they can pick them.

I remember hearing a reading in church and it referenced the fig tree. It said something to the effect of "pay attention to when the leaves bud because you know the fruit comes after that." It really had nothing to do with the fig tree itself but the idea to pay attention to the signs so that you may be ready for what's to come.

Anyway, I love my fig tree because it's a pretty tree. I took this picture about 2 weeks ago so the leaves are actually almost grown. I will take another picture of it when it's grown this year. It also looks really neat when it's bare.

I saw God today (part 2)

For anyone that doesn't know, I LOVE taking pictures of the clouds! This is a shot of the clouds the morning we left for the hospital to have my newest little man. I think this one speaks for itself.

I saw God Today (part 1)

I have been getting lots of text messages from people asking me how I am doing and how baby Ramon and the family are doing. Most of the time I can type in the word "good" with no problem. Sometimes it comes out as "god" and I have to backspace and retype it.

This has happened to me for several years that I can remember. Typing on IM or in an email or wherever. I started to really pay attention to it when my grandpa passed away years ago. I was upset because I didn't have the relationship with him that I would have wanted. For whatever reason, I wasn't his favorite (not that he had one) and I don't have any pictures of him other than the ones I took from my cousin's facebook page. Juan and I weren't married at the time he passed away and we were actually split up...one time of many. He wasn't there for me. I was angry.

One day I was typing a note to Juan, that I never gave to him, and every time I tried to type the word "good" I would miss that second o. So I stopped and thought about it and wondered if that was a message coming to me that I needed to divert my anger to a more appropriate subject. Whether that was the case or not, it stuck with me.

There have been many other occasions where this one thing pops into my writing but this was the first time, that I can remember, that it happened. So think about it, every time you type the word "good" and it comes out as "god," what do you think it means?